This invention relates to a shoe, especially a sport, leisure or rehabilitation shoe, with an upper that is at least partially formed of an elastically flexible material, a central closure attached on an instep cover in an area of the wearer's instep, and with a wire-like tightening element that is coupled with the central closure and runs from the central closure down toward a toe end of the upper and then back up to the central closure, the tightening element passing back and forth between guide elements on the instep cover and on side parts of the upper at each of opposite sides of the throat area.
Such a shoe is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,177,882. In this shoe, tensioning strips, designed as individual elements, are each attached to the side part of the shoe upper material. On their upper ends, the supporting straps have locking elements, which lock with counterlocking elements when their ends are inserted into a slot-like opening of the tensioning strips. This arrangement and configuration of the instep supports and straps has proven itself well in shoes with a central closure attached in the instep area.